In the age of social media and online reviews it is more important than ever to keep your hotel customer approved. According to SiteMinder, 93% of travelers take reviews into consideration when booking a hotel. Even more telling is Statista’s survey that found 84% of people say hotel cleanliness is ‘very important’ to them.
An inviting foyer and clean guest rooms set the bar for your hotel but cleanliness needs to go beyond the expected — think restaurants, gym facilities and other public spaces. If hotels cannot even meet guests’ basic expectations of a clean and hygienic guest room, they may be unintentionally stewing a negative guest review. Travelers are now savvier than ever about reading reviews before booking a hotel, and are becoming bolder about leaving bad reviews (or threatening to write a negative review) to warn future travelers of their experience. Here are two examples of public negative reviews that can impact potential guests:
A review of Beachfront Inn
“Terrible hotel, poor cleanliness and bad attitude
The room was dirty and everything looked old and we soon found animal droppings in the AC unit. My partner has respiratory problems so we went downstairs and informed the front desk receptionist who called in a man. He did not introduce himself and asked us what the problem was so we told him about the animal droppings. He laughed in our faces so we showed him the pictures on our camera. He still laughed so we insisted he come up and see for himself. I asked him who he was and he said he was the owner. We were shocked by his lack of professionalism and bad attitude towards an important matter such as hygiene and safety. When he saw the droppings for himself he offered us a refund of only 50% of our trip but said that there were no other rooms available. Only when we claimed we would leave a negative review did he offer to refund us all of our money and we quickly left and stayed at the ‘Holiday Inn’ in Vero Beach instead (which we highly recommend!) Hope this helps steer you towards a better hotel. –Steph.G.”
The following review goes beyond hotel cleanliness, and blames the hotel outright for an infectious disease the traveler contracted during her/his stay.
Review of Commercial Hotel
“I caught impetigo and blame the cleanliness of this so called hotel
This establishment is disgusting and shouldn’t be allowed to trade as a hotel. PLEASE do not stay here for the following reasons:
– The owner threatened us and said that he would take money from our accounts if we wrote a bad review. Lets just see if he’s true to his word…
– The rooms were dirty and the bed sheets had stains on them
– Our room smelt of raw sewage and our toilet didn’t work
– There was no hot water and the bath taps fell off
– Oh, and I caught impetigo which for those of you that don’t know is a bacterial infection caused by poor hygiene.I am ashamed that we stayed here and embarrassed that we blessed the owner with any of our hard earned money.
PLEASE DON’T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE THAT WE DID! –Traveller2010244″
If you think a bad review is something to ignore, think again. Benjamin Jost states, “90% of travelers will immediately eliminate hotels that don’t have a certain, attainable level of positive feedback from their list of potential places to stay.” Other experts claim a hotel can lose up to 30 reservations from a single negative review. Negative reviews have the potential to do such incredible harm to hotels that businesses now exist to help them fix negative online reviews.
One way you can help stay ahead of a negative review is by providing a safe and healthy guest experience. Use EPA Registered products that are proven to disinfect surfaces and kill germs that may cause infections or diseases for guests. One study indicated travelers would pay more for guest rooms that have been disinfected beyond the normal cleaning routine. Disinfecting your the common areas and surfaces in your hotel and guest rooms are a positive step toward repeat bookings and positive reviews.
When it comes to keeping your facility clean and disinfected you need a trusted business partner committed to helping you provide a positive experience for each of your guests.
2XL is a leading manufacturer of cost-effective disinfecting products that are impacting industries across the globe. Since 2XL wipes are designed to disinfect, you can feel confident that you are protecting your guests from a negative experience and protecting your hotel from a negative review.
2XL is your trusted partner in the hospitality industry. We are Relentlessly Clean.
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